School Children from Nepal Track Snow Leopard

School children from Nepal have been enlisted by conservationists to record the movements of the snow leopard.

It is believed that there are around 500 adults in Nepal, although as Som Ale of the US-based Snow Leopard Conservancy said: “Snow leopards are inherently rare and also elusive in the sense that they are active during dusk and dawn, so few people, including biologists have seen a snow leopard to date.”

 

The Snow Leopard Conservancy have enlisted school children from  Mustang in the
northern frontier, who will work in pairs installing and monitoring digital cameras, which will count the endangered species. This will take place over 2 months in winter.

According to the SLC this is the first survey of a large predator anywhere in the world by local communities who are not paid conservation experts.

The digital cameras take infra-red images and operate in sub-zero temperatures.

The snow leopard is protected in Nepal by an act of parliament dating back to the 1970s which provides for penalties of up to 100,000 rupees ($1,300) and up to 15 years in jail for poachers.